By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Nuno Espírito Santo believes West Ham’s attacking football is now “clicking” and “flowing”, despite Tuesday night’s 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat to Fulham.
Speaking to the official West Ham website, the Hammers boss made it clear he is happy with the way his team are creating chances and scoring goals. His concern is at the other end, where he admitted West Ham are being “punished by our mistakes”.
I think that’s a pretty accurate assessment of where this team is at the moment.
Fulham were probably the better side on Tuesday, but West Ham still scored twice against Premier League opposition and had opportunities to force a penalty shootout late on. The attacking threat remains, even when the overall performance isn’t quite at the level we saw during the 6-0 demolition of Wrexham.
Nuno Is Right About The Mistakes
Where I completely agree with Nuno is on the manner of the goals conceded.
They weren’t goals which screamed tactical disaster to me. They were individual errors.
Fulham’s opener came from poor defending around the box, while their second was created by a fairly simple ball over the top which should have been dealt with far better.
The third was another avoidable one, with Mohamadou Kanté dwelling on the ball before West Ham were punished.
That was also the impression immediately after the game, when our final-whistle assessment highlighted familiar defensive lapses despite West Ham twice fighting their way back into the tie.
Fulham Was A Useful Warning
In that respect, perhaps Fulham did West Ham a favour before Millwall.
Premier League teams tend to punish those mistakes more ruthlessly than Championship opposition, and the morning-after assessment made exactly that point. West Ham may get away with some of these errors in the second tier, but better players will take advantage.
I also thought there was a level of intensity missing on Tuesday.
It looked to me as though West Ham’s eyes are firmly on the Championship and promotion. Given the changes Nuno made, that’s hardly surprising.
I Wouldn’t Panic Before Millwall
Despite the errors against Fulham, I wouldn’t rip the defence apart for Saturday.
I’d go back to the strongest available back four and trust them to perform better at The Den. I also think having Mads Hermansen back in goal will provide a steadying hand behind them.
The wider picture remains encouraging.
Only days ago, West Ham produced a performance in which the whole structure appeared to click into gear, and Nuno clearly believes the attacking side of his team is heading in the right direction.
Now he needs to cut out the gifts.
Against Millwall, that could be the difference between controlling the derby and giving The Den something to feed off.